The present invention is directed to a skinning blade assembly and more particularly to a removable skinning blade assembly for meat skinning machines.
Skinning blade assemblies are well known in the art and generally comprise an elongated skinning blade with a clamp to hold the blade in place which is mounted on a shoe. With use, the cutting edge of the blade can become worn, dull, or clogged requiring removal and/or cleaning of the blade one or more times each day. Presently, removal of the blade requires a technician to disassemble the skinning assembly by loosening or removing the clamp from the shoe which permits disengagement of the blade from underneath the clamp. The process is time consuming requiring not only excessive manpower, but also shut down time of the skinning machine resulting in lost productivity.
Therefore, a principal objective of the present invention is to provide a skinning blade assembly where the blade can easily be removed and replaced.
The skinning blade assembly has an elongated blade, a clamp which receives the blade, and a shoe upon which the clamp is mounted. The clamp has a top, two sides, two ends, and a bottom. The bottom of the clamp has an elongated recess that receives the blade. The clamp also has one or more narrow slots that extend from the top of the clamp through the bottom of the clamp and intersect the rearward edge of the recess.
The blade has a cutting edge, a back edge, and two side edges. When the blade is placed in the recess of the clamp its rearward edge engages the rearward edge of the recess. The force of on-coming meat products hold the blade in that position. The slot or slots extend downwardly through the clamp and expose a short portion of the rearward edge of the blade. The rearward ends of the slots terminate rearwardly of the rearward edges of the recess and the blade. To remove the blade a screwdriver or similar tool is inserted in the clamping slot and sufficient force is applied to the back edge of the blade to push the blade out of the recess.